Search

Smartphone data plans for push email and web browsing

Author:
administrator

Category:
Telecoms

Getting a smartphone connected for push email and Web browsing is as easy as signing up for a data plan with an operator and waiting for the network to provision the service. Finding the right data plan for the business can be harder – but it can be more profitable too.

Most UK operators now promise ‘unlimited’ data for smartphones. Sadly it’s not really unlimited, and there’s usually a so-called ‘fair use’ cap of 3GB a month on most tariffs. Under most circumstances it’s a reasonable limit, and unlikely to be reached with normal email and Web usage. While you can set up clients with consumer plans, business plans can be more cost effective – especially when you’re setting up several phones. Operators normally offer plans that cover one to four devices, and others for five or more.

For many small businesses it’s worth looking at calling plans that include unlimited landline calling along with standard mobile calls, texts and data. You’ll find these starting at around £35 a month (ex VAT). Most UK operators offer BlackBerry service as well, though this adds an additional sum each month, usually around £4 or £5. Shopping around is a good idea – some operators discount services for new devices.

Although you can recommend standard contracts and help your customers set them up, you may prefer to partner with a reseller. This can turn mobile data and telecoms into a revenue stream for your business with potential sign-up bonuses and royalties on your clients’ mobile usage, as well as giving them access to dedicated call centres and support staff. For example, Micro-P offers monthly tariffs starting from £25 plus VAT and commissions from £20 to £200 on 3 Mobile Broadband. Operators also have their own B2B businesses that work with IT resellers and consultancies. O2 has a range of regional partners and Vodafone’s Yes Telecom will help you deliver custom solutions for your clients based around Vodafone’s offerings.

Download

Advertise

IT EXPERT TOP TIP

Need to fit more memory, a new hard drive or a replacement optical drive to a Mac? Even if you're experienced with Macs it can be tricky to deal with the range of cases and connectors used in different models, and if you only deal with a handful of Macs across all your clients it’s hard to stay up to date. This site has installation videos going back to the G4 PowerBook and G3 blue&white desktop Mac.http://eshop.macsales.com/tech_center/installation_2.cfm read more

TAKE THE POLL

Unified communications

Suits small business: we’re installing it regularly.

Still evaluating but expect it to be an increasing part of our business.

We’ll set it up if a customer asks but it can be too complex for small businesses.